Wall Street Journal Hedcuts of Philip Seymour Hoffman

Wall Street Journal hedcut of Philip Seymour Hoffman by Randy Glass

My most recent posting commemorated the life and career of Actor, Peter O'Toole who died in mid-December. I wish I weren't in the position to repeat myself here, but another wonderful actor has passed away...one that I had the opportunity to render in two separate Wall Street Journal portraits.

I'd have to say that Philip Seymour Hoffman was one of my own favorite actors, and I was really stunned to hear of his passing yesterday morning. As it happens, I was channel-surfing just a few nights ago and came upon Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master", which I'd already seen...but I just had to spend a few minutes enjoying his performance again - one of many that I'll never forget.

Both of the hedcut portraits I created for The Wall Street Journal of Hoffman were for his Oscar-winning portrayal of Truman Capote.  The first accompanied an article that Joe Morgenstern wrote discussing several terrific films he'd seen at the 2005 Telluride Film Festival. A few weeks after that drawing appeared, Bennett Miller's "Capote" opened in theaters, and a new portrait was featured alongside Morgenstern's enthusiastic review.

I really admired this guy and I'm sad that he's gone.

Pen & ink stipple portrait of Philip Seymour Hoffman, created for the Wall Street Journal by Randy Glass